NYC Food & Drink Gift Shopping

Give the gift of food and drink this holiday season. Here are shops the pros recommend for everything from rare spirits to exotic spices to hand-made candies. And here's hoping the recipient will share their gift with you.

Salt & Chocolate

Salts, BItters, Chocolates from The Meadow | Photograph courtesy of The Meadow

The Meadow

This unique boutique is owned by author and James Beard Award winner Mark Bitterman. They showcase over 100 salts from around the world, 700 artisan chocolates, 280 cocktail bitters, seasonal flowers, and housewares trinkets like salt dishes and pepper mills.

"I love to come into this store and see 45 different kinds of chocolate from all over the world. It’s like a discovery for me and it’s all very interesting, high quality, small production, craftsmen that are really putting their best effort in. I'm like a big kid when it comes to stuff like this."FED Pro > Chef Paul Liebrandt

Barware

Photograph courtesy of Cocktail Kingdom

Cocktail Kingdom

Head up to the fifth floor to find everything from Japanese mixing glasses to artisan bitters, unique syrups, and rare cocktail books.

"This is a personal favorite for pretty much anything needed in the bartending industry. It is a temple to all things cocktail. The shop includes a vast selection of bartending tools and quite possibly the largest library of cocktail books in the world."FED Pro > Bartnder Erick Castro of Polite Provisions and Boilermaker

Mood Indigo

Located on the second floor, Diane Petipas has been collecting 20th century design for over thirty years. You can find a large assortment of vintage barware and tableware.

"It's an antique barware shop that has unbelievable stuff, everything from old highball glasses to bar spoons, a huge amount of shakers and glassware, and old stuff from the Stock Club."FED Pro > Bartender Theo Lieberman of Eleven Madison Park

Spices

Visit the world through spices at Kalustyan's | Photo Credit: Find. Eat. Drink.

Kalustyan's + SOS Chefs + La Boite

For the cook or cocktail geek visit these three shops.

Kalustyan's keeps expanding their store and in turn, expanding the range and variety of the spices, bitters, salts, and ingredients from all over the world. If you can't find it here, don't bother looking elsewhere.

SOS Chefs in the East Village is favored by the pros for their variety of spices and unique products.

Bloody Mary Spice Master Collection and Biscuits from La Boite

La Boite's Lior Lev Sercarz is the man chefs like Eric Ripert keep on speed dial for when they need his spice blends to add magic to their food. He also collaborates with industry stars to develop products that range from cookies to popcorn to hot chocolate. Try his Bloody Mary mix that he made with bartender Jim Meehan (PDT) or his seasonal biscuits. The biscuits tins are art project collaborations as well. The Fall 2015/Winter 2016 collection features photography from Melanie Dunea.

Candy & Chocolate

Photograph courtesy of Papabubble

HARD CANDY | Papabubble

This is part theater / part candy shop. Stop into their store and watch them athletically twist, roll, pull, and stretch the candy into beautiful rainbow colors and chop them into tiny cylinder shapes. The hard candies look like droplets of Venetian glass, but taste much better. Buy their X-Mas Tree Lollipop, Santa's or their Snowflake Mix for the holidays.

"They are always doing crazy artwork with their candy. The little watermelon candies are awesome. It’s truly handmade, because they make it right there in front of you."FED Pro > Chef Brendan McHale of The Eddy

MODERN CHOCOLATE | Liddabit Sweets

If it taste like an elevated version of the chocolate bars you grew eating, that's because this is what they do. They take nostalgic candies and give them an artisanal, gourmet spin. They sell an array of choices from Tallyhos to grown-up Bourbon-Bacon Caramel Corn; soft and chewy Sea Salt Caramels to crispy Honeycomb Candy.

OLD SCHOOL CANDY | Economy Candy

To experience the ultimate kid in a candy shop experience. They have been selling candies out of the same modest location since 1937.

"There's a great old world vibe at this dive of a candy shop in the LES, but you can find nearly every candy you've ever worried was gone forever from average grocery store shelves."FED Pro > Pastry Chef Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar

Sake & Shochu

Sake at Sakaya | Photo Credit: Find. Eat. Drink.

Sakaya

Buy a beautiful bottle of sake imported from Japan for that someone special. Sakaya carries over 100 bottles of premium sake, made from artisanal and unique producers that are not readily available in the US.

British Foods

Myers of Keswick | Photo Credit: Find. Eat. Drink.

Myers of Keswick

This is where you'll find great Brit picks imported from the UK as well as foods made in-house, like mince pies. Pick up Christmas Crackers (the non-edible ones with prizes and hats inside), and Christmas Pudding for your holiday dinner.

"I come here for a taste of home. If I want a packet of Walker’s Crisps or a nice potato chip that I’m missing from home, I can just come here and pick it up, which is quite nice."FED Pro > Chef April Bloomfield of The Spotted Pig, John Dory, The Breslin

"I shop here for things like marmalade, Vegemite and Cadbury chocolate. They have baked beans and spaghetti, which is different back home, and Tim Tams (chocolate biscuits) and Milo, which is like a chocolately malt that kids have when adults have coffee and tea."FED Pro > Chef Matt Lambert of The Musket Room

Kitchen Arts & Letters

The largest selection of food and drink books with 13,000 titles. Also great for rare and out-of-print books.

"Whether in or out-of-print, if it’s about food they have it or know where to get it."FED Pro > Pastry Chef Michael Laiskonis

"Great resource and an enormous provider of research and inspiration from old historical books from various ranges of cuisines to books that are authoritative, chef books, and chef-driven cookbooks from all over the world."FED Pro > Chef George Mendes of Lupulo, Aldea

Japanese Tableware and Chef Knives

Korin

Korin is home to one of the most extensive collections of Japanese chef knives in the world. You can also find sushi bar tools, kimono accessories, and Asian housewares.

"Moribashi is the special chopsticks I use for cooking, which are half made of wood and half made of stainless steel. For me, Moribashi is just like a special brush for a painter. You can get them at Korin."FED Pro > Chef Chikara Sono of Kyo Ya

Vintage Liquor & Wine

Photograph courtesy of Chambers Street Wines

Astor Wines & Spirits + Chambers Street Wines

These classic NYC wine and spirits shops have a deep selection of antique spirits and older wines. Buy an old Barolo or Sauterne from the birth year of your gift recipient. Give a unique amaro, vermouth, or a whisky from the 1970s. Don't be intimidated to ask for guidance from the knowledgable staff at both of these shops.

"There isn't a better booze wonderland than Astor Place. A very well curated and exceptionally extensive spirits selection, but also plenty of hard-to-find items."FED Pro > Bartender Alex Day of Death & Co

"Chambers is the preeminent wine store in America. I know these are big words, but they have a point of view and committed to it before it was trendy, after it was trendy and while it was trendy."FED Pro > Sommelier Lee Campbell of Reynard, Marlow & Sons